CLEVELAND, Ohio -- New Browns receiver Nate Burleson spent the past four years watching Lions receiver Calvin Johnson transform himself into Megatron and knows exactly what it will take for Josh Gordon to become -- and stay -- Flash Gordon.

"I can tell you this, when talking about (Gordon) with Calvin, Calvin basically said, ‘that young boy is good,''' Burleson said on a conference call Monday. "And for a guy like Calvin, who has very little words, for him to kind of give that credit to a young guy, it basically tells everybody in the world to watch out, the next big thing’s here. It’s up to Josh to compete and play at a high level and stay consistent and I think he has the right mindset for that.”

If Gordon follows Burleson's lead, he just might approach Megatron heights. Not only did Burleson bring his natural, infectious leadership ability from the Motor City, he brought a double-dose of work ethic -- his own and the one he absorbed from Johnson.

"As a wide receiver I got to spend some time with (Johnson) and then after a couple years I was like, ‘wow Calvin Johnson is the best in the world hands down,''' Burleson said. "In my opinion, with longevity by his side he can go down as one of the best receivers to ever play the position, period. And that was after watching him wake up every single day and work out as if he was a free agent, wake up and challenge the group and rise to the occasion.

"When I wanted to have a great day, he wanted to have a great day. When I wanted to work out double, he wanted to work out double. When I wanted to lead the team in conditioning, he was already ahead of me. So I saw this stuff every single day and not only did he do those things, he was amazing on the field.''

When Burleson first arrived in Detroit in 2010 after stints in Minnesota and Seattle, folks asked him to compare Johnson to his former Vikings teammate Randy Moss, another superstar wideout and a seven-time Pro Bowler.

“(They said) you played with Randy, how does Calvin stack up?'' the former third-round pick out of Nevada said. "The best way I could answer initially was, ‘from a distance he’s one of the best receivers in the league hands down but I don’t know him as an individual. Time will tell for me to make my own personal opinion, to assess him as an athlete, as a professional.’ That's basically what I'm going to say when people ask me about Calvin and Josh. I haven’t spent enough time with (Gordon) to compare. He's a talent though.''

In Burleson, the Browns finally have the piece that's been missing from their receiver room forever: a veteran mentor with a tremendous work ethic and attitude. They thought Davone Bess might fulfill that role last season, but he was deeply troubled and ultimately released.

A 12th-year pro, Burleson was known in Detroit for his upbeat personality and great sense of humor. After he broke his arm last season while trying to save a deep-dish pepperoni pizza from flying off the passenger seat, he posted photos of the crash on instagram, and joked about the incident. He told the Detroit Free Press that even though it looked like the pizza was half eaten, "it wasn't even eaten, it was just sitting there staring at me like, 'Why?' That's what it was asking, 'Nate, why? You could have let me go.'"

He also kidded that after all he went through to save the pizza, the least his wife could've done was bring it home when she went to survey the wreck. And when he scored a touchdown in his first game back in six weeks after hand surgery, he celebrated by holding the ball up like a freshly baked pizza pie.

"He's one of our Energizer bunnies," former offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said of Burleson in 2011. "He gets us going. That's not something he can force, that's something in him. That was one of the biggest values he had. We knew we were bringing in a guy with a lot of energy and great positive energy and leadership. I think it's really helped us."

Last season, when Burleson received the Ed Block Courage Award for his return from a broken leg that caused him to miss 10 games in 2012, Lions vice chairman Bill Ford Jr. said, "If we could have a whole locker room of Nates, we'd never worry again about anything and we'd be the best organization in the NFL.''

Although Gordon rocked the NFL with 1,646 yards in only 14 games, his work ethic was called into question and he needed a savvy veteran to show him the way. What's more, he's only one failed drug test away from banishment from the NFL for at least a year, and could use a stable locker room influence. Just this week, Gordon became embroiled in controversy with remarks he made on ESPN about Cavs point guard Kyrie Irving and his supposed rift with teammate Dion Waiters.

Burleson, who's credited with helping Megatron come out of his shell, could be just what Gordon needs.

"It's very important to me (to be a leader) just because it was given to me,'' Burleson said. "What I’ve always learned from veterans, when I first got in the league, which is now a little over a decade ago, is you give back to the league what was given to you. I had guys like Randy Moss and Marcus Robinson, who came over from the Chicago Bears and was competing with my position, competing for the X spot across from Randy. I remember them sitting me down and saying, ‘Look, we’re going to compete every day and we’re going to battle every day, but there’s enough food on the table for everybody to eat.

"So there’s no point in us clashing, us bumping heads because however we can help this team is going to be the best for the team.’ [Robinson] was in my corner. He held me under his wing for the entire year, and I ended up being the starter at the end of the year. I just never forgot that. So every individual that I came across whether they’re my age, free agent, draft pick coming in to play my position, I’m going to embrace it because at the end of the day, the story’s written. So there’s no point in me holding this individual back from maybe some valuable lessons that I could teach him.''

Burleson, who caught 73 passes for 757 yards and three touchdowns in his last healthy season in 2011, plans to show more than tell.

"I’m not going to come in and try to stomp my feet and demand respect,'' he said. "I’m going to earn respect by how I work as an individual, how I show up and be a professional and more importantly make plays. Guys respect playmakers, and with talented receivers already there, I’ve got to go out everyday and show this is a legit wide receiver. Not only is he legit, but he’s got over a dozen years in the NFL. I’m going to lead by example and then establish those relationships. If I can take a guy out to dinner, hang out outside of the locker room, then I’m definitely going to do that ’cause that’s one of the more important times when the lessons are learned, when you’ve got the jerseys off and you kind of unveil yourself and it’s not all football.

"That’s how I got so close to the receiving corps in Detroit. That’s how I was able to really get to know Calvin on a personal level because we spent so much time with each other off the field. That’s the plan. I’m going to continue to do that. That’s part of my nature, though. I’m a social butterfly, and I feel like positive conversation, positive reinforcement is always going to supercede anything else.”

Burleson, who's missed 17 games over the past two seasons, knows he has to stay on the field to make an impact off of it. He fractured a tibia in 2012 and had fragments of bone and cartilage lodged in the break. Last season, he fractured his left hand in two places during the single-car crash, and was leading the Lions with 19 receptions in three games beforehand.

"I feel like I was playing as consistent as any receiver in the league,'' he said. "I had a really good rhythm with Matt (Stafford), but everything happens for a reason, so I couldn’t really get too mad. It was tough because when I went down I knew that the offense wasn’t going to be the same. It was less about me and (more about) knowing the impact my injury was going to have on my team.''

The week before the accident, Burleson caught six passes for 116 yards, including a 47-harder that set up the go-ahead TD in a victory over the Redskins. It's that kind of production he hopes to bring here.

"I’m trying to give Cleveland a healthy Nate Burleson, and a healthy Nate Burleson in 16 games can tap dance around 1,000 yards easily,'' he said. "But more importantly, I can move the chains. With the features that they already have and with some of these young guns that they have on this team, I’m just a guy that wants to be a part of it. I’m not going to come in and try to be the man, I just want to be one of the guys that’s part of a great winning program.''

He views the Browns "as a team that’s ready to take that next step. The talent is there. Not only is the talent there, there’s been some great moves made this offseason. I’m sort of the end of the list as far as acquisitions, but they’ve done some things and have been one of the more aggressive teams in free agency. I’m looking forward to the draft and piecing together something that can be special. This isn’t a program that’s rebuilding. I’m not coming here to deal with losing, just like everybody else is. I think the people that are putting on this jersey this year want to win games. That’s what it’s all about.''

It's also why he left a visit with Miami last week to keep his scheduled trip to Cleveland.

"I’m glad that I did,'' he said.

He knows he might take some flak here for his infamous TD celebration in a preseason game in Cleveland in 2011, when he performed the Lebron James chalk toss in front of a heckling Dawg Pound. It was only a year after The Decision and the wound was still fresh.

"I’m pretty sure I will,'' he said. "I’m pretty sure I’ll be at the grocery store one day and somebody’s going to run up on me in the cereal section and I’m going to have to address it. But it’s all out of good nature. When you’ve got competitive guys and you have young, feisty individuals like (Joe) Haden talking (trash), you’ve got to have something in your back pocket to quiet them…..Hopefully I can celebrate a lot more in a Browns jersey, and I’m pretty sure the fans would be OK with that.”

If he doesn't get any ribbing in the cereal aisle, it'll surely come at the local pizza shop.

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